ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Ecol. Evol.
Sec. Chemical Ecology
This article is part of the Research TopicResearch Advances on Drosophila suzukii - Volume IIView all 3 articles
CYP genes are duplicated in Drosophila suzukii and carry transposable elements
Provisionally accepted
- Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
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Gene duplication and transposable element (TE) insertions are key drivers of genome evolution and have been linked to increased insecticide resistance in insects. The aim of this study was to characterize the distribution and potential impact of TEs within and near cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP) genes in the invasive pest Drosophila suzukii compared with the non-pest Drosophila melanogaster. We performed in silico analyses of the CYP gene repertoire and genome architecture in D. suzukii and D. melanogaster. We identified ten duplicated CYP genes that are exclusive to D. suzukii and absent from its closely related species D. melanogaster. These duplications are enriched with TE fragments, predominantly Helitrons. Thirty-six percent of TE sequences within CYP genes and their flanking regions carry putative transcription-factor binding sites in D. suzukii, indicating a possible role in gene regulation. Building on the proposed model of Helitron-mediated exon shuffling, our findings suggest that Åpen these elements contribute to gene rearrangement, thereby potentially enhancing functional diversity. At the genome level, D. suzukii harbors a higher overall TE content than D. melanogaster, with a relative enrichment within CYP genes. The increased TE content may have enhanced genomic plasticity, thereby facilitating the species' invasive success, rapid population growth, and ability to adapt to diverse habitats, such as native environments and agricultural fields.
Keywords: cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, genome TE content, Helitron, transcription-factor binding site, Transposon
Received: 11 Jul 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Berrutti, Callegari-Jaques, Valente and Deprá. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Paula Dandara da Silva Berrutti
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